1. Field of the Invention
The present patent application for industrial invention relates to a selection machine for separating fruits from foreign bodies attached to the fruits.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
It is known that fruits, such as grapes or olives, are harvested by means of mechanical harvesters that cut and harvest both the fruits and the foreign bodies attached to the fruits. The term “foreign bodies” indicates leaves, stems and/or stalks. After harvesting said fruits with harvesting machines, it is necessary to separate the fruits from the relevant foreign bodies.
Such an operation is necessary also when the fruits are harvested manually in order to separate the fruits from the foreign bodies attached to them.
Selection machines for separating the fruits from the relevant foreign bodies are known on the market, which comprise a cage formed of a tubular element provided with two open ends and one longitudinal axis. The cage is intended to receive the fruits and the relevant foreign bodies and comprises openings to let the foreign bodies pass.
The cage is connected to a fixed support frame by means of connection means. The connection means comprise a pin with a longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cage.
The selection machines of the prior art comprise actuation means to actuate the cage around the pin along a transverse direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cage. The actuation means allow for separating the fruits from the relevant foreign bodies and ejecting the foreign bodies from the openings of the cage.
The cage moves along a trajectory substantially shaped as an arc of circumference that requires using complicated and articulated actuation means.
Another drawback in the use of such selection machines is represented by the fact that, during the movement of the cage along the aforesaid trajectory, the foreign bodies contained in the cage tend to come out from the openings of the cage in an uncontrolled way. Consequently, the machine is difficult to use because it is not possible to define a space wherein the foreign bodies will fall. Moreover, it is not easy to design and realize the successive process steps in order to collect the foreign bodies that have fallen off from the cage.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,924,111 discloses an apparatus for separating fruits from foreign bodies comprising a fixed support frame, a mobile frame connected to the fixed frame and actuation means to actuate the mobile frame.
The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a selection machine that is inexpensive and simple to maintain.
Another purpose is to provide a selection machine that is easy to make and use.